Palace Theater, Movie theater in Gary, United States
The Palace Theater is a former movie theater in Gary, Indiana, designed by architect John Eberson and opened in 1925. It is one of the few remaining examples of the movie palace style in this part of the United States.
The building went up in 1925 during the peak years of the American movie palace boom, when theaters across the country were built to look like grand halls. After decades of use, it closed as Gary's economy declined sharply from the 1960s onward.
The Palace Theater served as a gathering place for the people of Gary, drawing audiences from across the city for films and stage shows. Today the building attracts visitors interested in the architectural and social history of the city.
The theater can be seen from the street and is worth viewing from the outside, as the facade still shows many of the original decorative details. Visiting during the day gives the best light for taking in the exterior and photographing the building.
John Eberson invented a style of theater design known as atmospheric, where the interior was made to look like an open-air Mediterranean courtyard, with ceilings painted to show a night sky full of stars. The Gary theater is an example of this approach, putting it among a small group of surviving buildings of that type in the country.
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